Got a Tesla? Elon Musk hints it could soon drive itself

Subscribe

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has suggested that the electric carmaker soon will take a step that could lead to the company's cars being capable of driving themselves. Musk, in response to an inquiry about Tesla's hardware systems, said late Sunday that the company could offer its new Fully Self Driving chip -- FSD for short -- as an upgrade to more than 500,000 older-model Teslas by the end of this year.

"End of Q4, most likely," was how Musk replied to a question about when the company would start retrofitting cars that currently include Hardware 2 (HW2), a set of sensors, radars and cameras that Tesla rolled out almost three years ago, with the implication that such cars would eventually have full, autonomous driving capabilities.

Musk's comment Sunday wasn't the first time he mentioned that self-driving features would be available by the end of 2019: In April, he made similar comments during a presentation to investors. He also said that robotaxis would be deployed next year.

"All HW2+ cars are upgradable to full self-driving capability with (a) Tesla FSD computer," Musk tweeted. "This is why it's possible for Tesla to have a million robotaxis by end of 2020 if we upgrade existing HW2 fleet of (TILDE)500k & make at least (TILDE)500k FSD cars."

Tesla owners who previously paid $6,000 for an additional package of of what the company calls a "full self-driving" technologies will be able to receive a free upgrade of the FSD chip when it becomes available.

Tesla currently offers drivers packages of semi-autonomous driving features for their vehicles. The most common of these is Autopilot, which is standard in new Teslas and has features such as lane recognition and steering. Tesla's other package, FSD, includes an active guidance system that can direct a car from freeway off-and-on ramps, and make lane changes.

However, neither Tesla nor any other car in the U.S. is yet capable of -- or legally permitted for -- fully autonomous driving on the nation's highways.

The FSD chip is a matter of pride as much as technical innovation for Tesla. It's the first such chip designed completely in-house at Tesla, and Musk has said it has 21 times the performance of the Nvidia chips it will replace. When Tesla unveiled the FSD chip in April, the company said it would include it in its new Model 3, Model S and Model X vehicles going forward.

(c)2019 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

Visit The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Share

More Automotive News

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is quietly shipping thousands of 2020 Ford Explorers and Lincoln Aviators by truck from its Chicago factory to its Flat Rock plant south of Detroit as workers desperately attempt to identify and ...Read More

DETROIT -- The U.S 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declined to approve a class-action settlement involving Ford Motor Co. and nearly 2 million owners and former owners of Focus and Fiesta vehicles with defective ...Read More

I thought I'd do something a little different today. Retirement from my automotive technology teaching job was short-lived, as I missed playing with kids and Monterey Peninsula College had an opening to staff an afternoon ...Read More

DETROIT – The current director of the UAW region covering 17 states from Missouri to California has been arrested and charged in the federal government's ongoing corruption investigation of the union, which has now ...Read More

For 2019, Honda has expanded its crossover utility lineup – and has brought back along-retired model name – with the introduction of the all-new, five-passenger midsize Passport, which slots between the compact CR-V ...Read More